BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2718
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Date of Hearing: April 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 2718
(Gomez) - As Introduced February 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Vehicles: transportation of hazardous materials
SUMMARY: Updates the codes with respect to methods of
communications between hazardous materials carriers and law
enforcement. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes a hazardous materials carrier to notify the
California Highway Patrol (CHP) by electronic communication
with regard to movements of hazardous materials.
2)Defines electronic communications including, but not limited
to, email, facsimile, and telegram.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires a carrier, prior to transporting certain hazardous
materials, to provide advance notification, in writing, to the
CHP.
2)Requires CHP to notify the sheriff of each county and the
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police chief of each city through which the hazardous
materials will be transported.
3)Requires those sheriffs and police chiefs to, in turn, make
timely notification to fire chiefs within their respective
jurisdictions.
4)Requires a carrier of hazardous materials to notify CHP, by
phone or telegram, if there are any scheduling changes in the
shipment, routes to be used, or shipment cancellations.
5)Provides that carriers who fail to notify law enforcement, as
specified, are subject to civil penalties between $500 and
$1,000 per violation.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Existing law requires a carrier, transporting certain
hazardous materials, to provide advance notification, in
writing, to the CHP before the materials are moved through any
given jurisdiction. Once notified, CHP is required to notify
local law enforcement, who, in turn, notifies fire chiefs in
their jurisdictions. The purpose of the notifications is to
help ensure preparedness in the event of an accidental release
of the material.
Provisions governing how communication between carriers and CHP
and others were updated in 1988 and, as a result, do not
reference commonly used electronically-based communications used
today such as email and facsimile. Given that these methods of
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communication are more expedient and universally used, it stands
to reason that existing law should be updated to provide for
this method of interaction.
AB 2718
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093